Williams, assistant had post-game spat

St. Francis - Bucks coach Larry Krystkowiak confirmed today that point guard Mo Williams and assistant coach Tony Brown had a "post-game discussion" after the Bucks' 119-99 homecourt loss to the Golden State Warriors on Jan. 19.

But Krystkowiak said there was no fighting in the Bucks' locker room after the game.

"It happened nine days ago," Krystkowiak said. "What you get into is you have a situation where you have 14 or 15 players and some coaches. You just think of them as a group of brothers. What happened the other night has taken on a life of its own, but it's completely blown out of proportion.

"It was a post-game discussion. I'd heard where they needed to be separated and they were fighting. That's all bogus. I was standing right there. We've got a group of good guys. For us to have some sparks flying in the locker room ... I didn't say a word.

"I kind of liked it. It's guys finally being honest with each other. But as far as breaking guys up and trying to keep them from fighting, that's crazy, to think we'd have a coach and a player post-game that are willing to fight. Whatever kind of spark we can get out of this is good. We really didn't give it two thoughts. It wasn't a situation that warranted any disciplinary action. It's just part of the NBA."

-- In an interview after practice, Krystkowiak said he would vote for Washington Wizards forward and Racine native Caron Butler as one of seven all-star reserves for the Eastern Conference. Butler made a convincing case in front of Krystkowiak on Sunday, scoring a career-high 40 points in Washington's overtime loss to the Bucks.

Conference coaches cannot vote for their own players. They vote for two forwards, a center, two guards and two wild-card berths. Butler and Boston's Paul Pierce are expected to be the leading candidates at forward in the East, and it's possible Toronto's Chris Bosh could be voted in at center. Coaches are allowed to put players at any position they play, and Bosh does play both power forward and center.

The East and West all-star reserves will be announced on Thursday night in a TNT cable telecast.

-- Krystkowiak said the Bucks' zone defense and three-quarter court pressure was effective in the 105-102 victory over the Wizards. Milwaukee made extensive use of the zone and had held the Wizards to 79 points until Washington went on its 11-0 run in the final 1 minute 40 seconds of regulation.

"We played about 40 possessions of zone and three-quarter court zone, and it was enough to disrupt some of the timing," Krystkowiak said. "It was really active. They have a couple of options they run a lot of, that our guards did a good job of taking away. Then they went to some other actions.

"But we had five guys with their heads on a swivel and locating people. We saw a lot of bounce in their step. When you look at the video from last night, it's almost as though it was on the wrong speed. You watch defensively some games, it's real lethargic and guys are slow. But feet were moving and guys were closing out to shooters, and the defense is what really carried us last night."